Field emission displays are utilized in a variety of display applications. Conventional field emission displays include a cathode plate having a series of emitter tips fabricated thereon. The tips are configured to emit electrons toward a phosphor screen to produce an image. The emitters or emitter tips are typically formed from an emitter material such as conductive polysilicon, molybdenum, or aluminum. Multiple emitters are typically utilized to excite a single pixel. For example, 120 emitters may be used for a single pixel. Individual pixels contain a deposited one of red, green, or blue phosphor.
One method of fabrication of emitter tips is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,259 (the '259 patent); assigned to the assignee hereof s and incorporated by reference. A hardmask layer is formed over emitter material in the disclosed fabrication method. Portions of the hardmask layer are selectively removed to form a hardmask utilized for emitter fabrication. One conventional method utilizes photolithography and etching to selectively remove portions of the hardmask layer. Following the formation of the hardmask, the emitter material is etched isotropically to form the tips. For proper fabrication, it is highly desired that hardmasks be patterned to a consistent critical dimension. Variations in critical dimensions or size of the hardmasks can result in non-uniformity within the formed emitter tips.
One method for fabricating the hardmask utilized to form the emitter tips uses spheres or beads as the mask for creating the hardmask layer mask. The spheres are provided in a liquid medium such as water. The emitter substrate is dipped into a vat of solution containing the spheres. The substrate is then withdrawn from the solution and some of the spheres adhere to the emitter substrate.
It is preferred to achieve a homogeneous/uniform distribution of beads upon the face of the emitter material. However, homogeneous distribution has been difficult to achieve. A non-uniform distribution of beads can result in adjacent spheres touching and subsequent adjoining of emitter tips following emitter fabrication causing problems with electron optics (e.g., focusing of electrons). Such joining of emitter tips can result in the emission of electrons which strike adjacent phosphor patches resulting in poor color intensity and poor color distribution.
Further, the spheres may exhibit poor adhesion to the surface of the substrate when conventional methods of applying the spheres to the substrate surface are utilized. This drawback is particularly acute if the spheres are larger than 0.5 microns.
The present invention provides improvements in device fabrication while avoiding problems experienced in the prior art.